


Valentine's Day

by Severina



Category: Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Community: tvrealm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-18
Updated: 2013-02-18
Packaged: 2017-11-29 16:13:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/688905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Severina/pseuds/Severina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He finds the first one on the seat of the bike.  A pale purple sugar heart, emblazoned with the words <i>Cool Cat</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Valentine's Day

**Author's Note:**

> Season One. Written for LJ's tvrealm community comment fic challenge, for the prompt 'valentine's day'
> 
> * * *

He finds the first one on the seat of the bike. A pale purple sugar heart, emblazoned with the words _Cool Cat_. 

Daryl's head whips up, eyes darting over the rest of the camp. Everyone seems to be going about their business; not a soul is paying him any mind. He cocks his head, looks down again at the candy. It's not really surprising, when he thinks about it. He's used to being the butt of somebody's joke, after all. 

He flicks the pastel heart aside with one dirty nail, makes it a point to roll over it when he rides the bike up to the tent.

Merle's with him when he finds the second, pale pink like the frosting on some little girl's birthday cake. He tries to snatch it up but Merle elbows him out of the way, snorts at the _U R A 10_ in tiny white script before tossing the candy in his mouth and crunching down hard.

"Ooooh," Merle mocks, "looks like you got yourself a secret admirer, little brother. Who'd'ya think it is, huh? I bet it's blondie over there. Uppity bitch got herself a hankerin' for a real man, what'd'ya think?"

"Shut up."

"Or maybe it's baby sister, huh? Bet that one's a virgin. You could show her a real good time."

"Jesus, _shut up_!" Daryl hisses. He darts a glance over to the RV, but the girls aren't anywhere in sight. The old man, though – he's giving them both the evil eye. Might have heard; Merle isn't exactly quiet. Daryl narrows his eyes and glares at the old geezer until the man ducks his head and turns back to his repairs.

The third one shows up perched in his bowl at supper, the _Cutie Pie_ on robin's egg blue standing out like a beacon for Merle at his side. Daryl feels his shoulders tense, and he quickly scoops it up in his spoon, stuffs it into his mouth and grimaces at the mixture of stewed squirrel and pure sugar. 

He spends the rest of the meal glowering at everyone and everything.

He breaks when the fourth one shows up the next day, a couple hours after Merle's taken off for a solo hunting trip. 

It's purple again, sitting on the bike again. This one says _Be Mine_. He swats it away hard enough that it bounces twice in the dirt, spins to throw up his arms. "This a big joke to you people?" he yells; watches as a dozen set of eyes go wide, as Lori hastily wraps her arms around her boy and draws him away. "Well it ain't funny!"

He feels all eyes on him as he stoops to snatch up his crossbow, sprawls onto the old log he drew up to the tent he shares with Merle and violently pulls his rag from his back pocket. He scowls at the arrows as he cleans them, keeps scowling until he's sure everyone has stopped watching him and then continues scowling anyway. 

Damn people.

He finds the fifth one on top of his sleeping bag. Pale orange, with _Love You_ in small white font. He stares at it for a long time, hand scrubbing restlessly at his beard. He spins when he hears the rustle of the tent fabric, hand going instinctively to the knife strapped at his side; only relaxes when the flaps part to reveal Glenn, hands up in surrender.

The other man's eyes go immediately to the little candy heart. 

Kind of like he knew it would be there.

Daryl clenches his fist as his stomach does a single, slow-motion lurch. 

"I'm just… not real good with words," Glenn says. "Figured these might speak for me. I just… I didn't mean to freak you out. I just didn't really know what to say and I had no idea how you felt, because honestly you don't give a person a lot to go on! I mean sure, there's a lot of surly looks, which by the way are actually really hot, but if I came right out and told you how I feel you could just punch me in the face, which I guess is still a possibility here, but—"

For someone that isn't good with words, Glenn sure talks a lot. Daryl shakes his head and takes two steps forward, fists a hand in the front of Glenn's T-shirt and tugs. The kid's momentum sends him crashing into his chest, and Daryl can feel that the kid's rapid-fire beat of his heart matches his own, Glenn's eyes wide and startled. 

"Waste of good candy," Daryl says just before their lips meet.


End file.
